Danica fastest in Daytona 500 practice

By JENNA FRYER - The Associated Press

Caption

Danica Patrick checks out her car Saturday while crew members make adjustments during a practice session for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Patrick had the fastest practice time. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If two practices are any indication, Danica Patrick is a solid candidate to win the pole for the Daytona 500.

Patrick turned the fastest lap Saturday in a pair of practice sessions focused solely on qualifying for the Daytona 500. She went 196.220 mph around Daytona International Speedway in the second practice session and said she's eyeing the top starting spot in "The Great American Race."

"Everything that we do is to make sure that we do whatever we can to be on the pole," Patrick said. "That is what we all are shooting for."

The front row for the Feb. 24 season-opening Daytona 500 will be set in today's time trials. The rest of the field is set Thursday after a pair of qualifying races.

Patrick said it would be an accomplishment for her Stewart-Haas Racing team to lock into the field today.

"I think it would be really nice for all of us to know we were in the race," she said. "It's nice to know as a team, but it's also nice to know for your (sponsors) like GoDaddy and all the other people that are involved in the car. That is who really pays for you to be out there on the track."

Patrick was nearly a second faster than the other drivers Saturday.

Second fastest in the afternoon session was three-time champion Tony Stewart, her teammate and car co-owner, who turned a lap of 195.363 mph in his Chevrolet. Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota, and he was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray as Chevrolet took four of the top five spots.

Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, was the fastest Ford in sixth.

Joey Logano paced the morning practice with a fast lap at 195.410 mph in his Penske Racing Ford. He was followed by Austin Dillon for Richard Childress Racing and then Patrick, who went 195.359 in the first session.

She came to Daytona with a different car than the one her SHR team tested with in January. That car was fast and had the team encouraged, but crew chief Tony Gibson settled on a different Chevy based on wind tunnel data.

"I think being fastest on the chart, just being fast in general shows everyone else how dead serious Tony Gibson is with his guys and how he wants poles, he wants to give me the fastest car possible," Patrick said. "He is doing absolutely everything he can and is putting so much hard work into it. I think that just shows his confidence in everyone including myself about what we can do."

Talking about her car was a welcome change for Patrick, who has spent the last few days answering questions about her relationship with fellow driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The two are dating and competing against each other for Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year.

"I have always felt in my career that when things go well on the track the media responds to it," she said.

Meanwhile, Juan Pablo Montoya showed some speed in the first session, where he turned the eighth-fastest lap, but his engine blew during the second practice. Chip Ganassi Racing switched to Hendrick Motorsports engines this season, and Montoya was encouraged by their power and teammate McMurray's speed in the second session.

"We are pretty happy," he said. "We will change the motor and give it a good go in qualifying."

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